Consultancy Work and Getting Operational

October 17, 2016 by Susan Surgener

Dr Helen Grzyb is a sought after consultant providing expert advice on governance, executive coaching, strategic planning and stakeholder engagement.

Helen has substantial experience in governance roles with over 20 years of board membership in the age care, disability/arts, private education, training, charitable institutions and small business incubator fields. Helen is also a Graduate and Fellow of the Australian Institute of Company Directors, with extensive board level expertise in strategy development, direction setting and change management.

What made you decide to pursue consultancy work after working in government for over 20 years?

I decided that a CEO role was not my career goal, was mid-career and was in a good financial position to take on the risk of consultancy income.

Working with various consultants gave me insights into the role of a consultant, which was very attractive because of:

Autonomy
Capacity to drill down into projects at a senior level
Spend my working life making a difference in the community

Explain how you use LinkedIn for networking and marketing your consultancy services?

After firstly having a business website, the need to invest in a standalone website became less of a priority and I invested in an expanded LinkedIn profile.

I chose special interest groups to maintain my professional credibility in particular areas e.g. for the area of governance; I qualified via the Australian Institute of Company Directors and joined their special interest group.

Contributions to discussions was a method of achieving profile, more importantly earlier in my career to regularly have my name in front of people’s eyes.

I have some endorsements which provides an overall professional picture.

What other strategies do you use to develop your professional networks beyond LinkedIn and what is the benefit of this?

Being a member of specific professional associations is an important networking strategy as is a committee role to demonstrate capacity to potential clients. I have been on committees at AIM, IPAAWA, AHRI for these purposes. My professional development has also resulted in more eclectic networks, which I find interesting.

Why is ongoing professional development an important for and how do you continue to evolve as a professional consultant, to meet current industry and societal needs?

I believe that ongoing professional development is a demonstration of my interest in new learning and keeping abreast of new trends and developments. My activities also gave me: